Railway points and signals



(No Model.)

0; ADAMS. APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS.

Patented Sept. 9, 1884.

N. PETERS. Hw'nvhlhcgnphm. wamin mn. D4 5.

Unite. STATES AIENT, FFICEO CHARLES ADAMS, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,891, dated September 9, 1884.

Application filed April 16, 1894. (No model.) Patented in Belgium December 22, 1883, No. 63,021, and in England January 4, 1884,

N0. 699, and January 11, 1884, N0. LL75, I

' zen of England, residing at Brussels, in the of the rail where D is situated.

Kingdom of Belgium, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for WVorking Railway Points and Signa1s,(for which I have obtained a patent in Belgium, N 0. 63,621, dated December 22, 1883, and provisional protection in Great Britain, No. 699, dated January 4, 1884, and No.1,275, dated January 11-, 1884,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for working railway points and signals, the chief object which I have in view being to insure safety by the use of simple, cheap, and durable mechanism.

I will describe the apparatus which I employ for moving and locking in each position a set of points, and for moving and interlocking with the points a pair of signals0ne for each of the two roads which the points command.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a plan of the apparatus, parts of which are shown separatelyin other figures, as will presently be described.

A is the rod connected to the ordinary point-lever in the signal-cabin or elsewhere, by the movement'of which single lever the shifting and locking of the points are effected in the following manner: The rod A works a three-armed lever, 13, to one arm of which is =connected by a link, C, the ordinary safetybar, D, which is mounted on radii at the side of the rail, and which, as is well known, has to make a movement upward when the red A is moved in either direction. If it happens that any part of a train is over the bar D, the wheel-flanges prevent D from rising, and con sequently the red A cannot be moved until the train has quite passed away from the part The third arm of the lever B is connected by a link, E, to the middle of a beam, F. One end of the beam F is jointed to a bell-cranklever, G. The other end ofF is j ointed to aslide,H. This slide, of which Fig.3 is a transverse section, consists of a plate, from which project two ribs, h h each of these ribs having a roller mounted at guide-frame, L.

its inner end. The plate H is fitted to slide to and fro in a guide-box, I, andto pass through a slot in a bar, J, that connects the two pointrails. Fig. 2 is a front view of this bar, showing the slot j, through which the plate H passes. This slot j is made longer than the width of the plate by the stroke of the points,

- and it has at the middle of its upper side a recess, j, with a roller mounted at each side, the space between these rollers being sufficient for passage of either of the ribs h h". One arm of the bell-crank G enters another slot, 9, in the bar J. From the two pointrails a bar, K, extends through a double (Shown in longitudinal section by Fig. land in transverse section by Fig. 5.) In this frame L are guided two bars, M M, which are linked to the opposite ends of a beam, N, to the middle of which is attached the pull a, which extends to the signal-lever in the cabin or elsewhere. The farther ends of the bars M M are linked to loaded bellcranks and to pulls mm which extend each to a semaphore-signal of ordinary kind, counterweighted, so as always to stand at danger, except when it is pulled down by the tension of its pull m or m The bar K and the two bars M M, that cross it, have notches interlocking with one another in such a manner that when the points are home in one position K presents a notch, through which one of the barssuch as M- can pass, but is engaged in a notch of the other bar, M which consequently cannot move. When the points are home in their other position, M finds no notch in K to pass through, but M finds a notch. \Vhen the points are in any intermediate position, not home either way, neither M nor M findsa notch in K to pass through. Finally, when either M or M has passed through a notch in K, then Keannot be moved. If both M andv M are in the position shown in Fig. 1,-which isthe position when both the signals m m are at danger, then both the bars M M present notches for passage of the bar K, leaving the points free to be-moved. If, now, the rod A be pulled, and if there be no part of a train over the bar D, the middle of the beam F is pushed to the left. Its one end jointed to G cannot move,

because the bar J is held by the rib h engaged in its notch j. The movement of F,

, however, causes H to slide to the left until the rib If is out of the notch j, and the rib h bu'tts against J, which stops the further movement of H to the left; but thebarJ, being new in the free space between the ends of the two ribs h if, is free to move, and now the bellcrank G, moved by F, causes the bar J and the point-rails to move over. \Vhen they have moved fully over, the notchj is presented to h, which, by the further movement of F, is caused to enter the notch j, and so to halt the points in their changed position. Thus,if both signals be at danger, and if there be no wheels over D, the pull of the red A first unbolts the points by the withdrawal of the rib 7L2, then shifts the points by the movement of G, and finally bolts the points in their changed position by the insertion of h. In like manner the points can be unbolted, moved back,

and bolted again by the movement of Ain the opposite direction. Again, the points being home, if n be pulled, then, as one of the bars M or M is held stationary by its 'notch having K engaged in it, while the other is free to move through a notch in K, the free bar will be moved by one end of the beam N, and one of the signals will be lowered, the other signal remaining at danger, but by this movement of one of the bars M M through the notch in K the bar K becomes itself bolted, and consequently the points cannot be shifted when either signal is moved from its danger position. If the signals thus worked are in such a position that they can be seen by the operator,they serve to him as point-indicators, showing which way the points are set, and

also as detectors of failure in movement of the points.

Although Ihave described the point-moving mechanism, which is all between the rails, arranged in conjunction with the duplex signal mechanism, which is all outside the rails, obviously these two sets of mechanism might be used separately. For example, by dispensing with the bar K and the parts outside the rail, the working and locking of the points would still be effected, as described, independently of the signals; or, again, retaining the notched bar K and the signal mechanism, but employing means of working the points other than those described, the working and locking of the signals would be effected as described.

- 'Ihe safety-bar D and the link Ofor moving it may be dispensed with, if desired, the lever 13 being in that case a two-armcd bellcrank worked by the red A, and connected by the rod E to the beam F of the point mov-i ing and bolting mechanism. It is, however,

desirable to retain a safety-bar, such as D, especially in cases where trains rapidly succeed each. other, and the pointsman, in his haste, may try to shift the points before a train has passed quite clear of them.

As the safety-bar D is a well-known appliance, Imake no claim to it by itself or in combi nation with points worked otherwise than in the manner herein described.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, and the best means I know of carrying the same into practical effect, I claim 1. In combination with a set of railwaypoints and a single pull-andpush point-rod, A, and with a pair of railway signal pulls, m an, and a single signal-pull, n, the lever B, red C, and safety-bar D, the rod E and beam F, jointed to the bell-crank G and to the bolting-slide H, having ribs h h, to enter the slotted bar J, also the notched bar K, and crossing it the notched signal bars h M jointed to the beam N, arranged andoperating sub stantiallyas and for the purpose herein set forth. I

2. In combination with a set of railwaypoints and a single pull-and-push point-rod,

A, and with a pair of railway signal pulls, m m", and a single signal-pull, n, the lever B, rod E, and beam F, jointed to the bell-crank G and to the bolting-slide H, having ribs h h, 9

and to the bolting-slide H. having ribs h h, to

enter the slotted bar J, substantially as herein described.

4. In combination with a set of railwaypoints and a single pull-and-push point-rod, A, the lever B, rod E, and beam F, jointed to the bell-crank G and to the bolting-slide H, having ribs h if, to enter the slotted bar J, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the notched rod K, attached to a set of railway-points, and witha pair of railway signal pulls, m m and-a single signal-pull, n, the notched signal-bars M M crossing K and jointed to the beam N, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification,in the presence of two sub- IIO scribing witnesses, this 19th day of March, A. 

